title: Providing more home-delivered meals is one way to keep older adults with low care needs out of nursing homes.
abstract: Programs that help older adults live independently in the community can also deliver net savings to states on the costs of long-term supports and services. We estimate that if all states had increased by 1 percent the number of adults age sixty-five or older who received home-delivered meals in 2009 under Title III of the Older Americans Act, total annual savings to states' Medicaid programs could have exceeded $109 million. The projected savings primarily reflect decreased Medicaid spending for an estimated 1,722 older adults with low care needs who would no longer require nursing home care--instead, they could remain at home, sustained by home-delivered meals. Twenty-six states could have realized net savings in 2009 from the expansion of their home-delivered meals programs, while twenty-two states would have incurred net costs. Programs such as home-delivered meals have the potential to provide substantial savings to some states' Medicaid programs.
authors.forename: Kali S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mor
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D017046:Cost Savings / Q000191:economics / Q000639:trends; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005522:Food Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006699:Home Care Services; D006801:Humans; D057187:Independent Living; D008484:Medicaid / Q000191:economics*; D009735:Nursing Homes; D014481:United States
keywords: Long-Term Care; Medicaid; Medicare